We know that everyone is frustrated with the cool weather this season. Heaters are on full blast and some people are just downright staying out of the pools. But, even though you may not be swimming as much you need to continue to keep the pools water chlorinated, balanced and active. We tend to not pay attention to pools unless we are in them but it is certainly necessary to keep up with the chemical balance so when that week of 100+ degrees hits, you can be ready to swim. Come on in and get a free water sample tested. We can let you know what you need to do in order to keep the pool sparkling and clear.

We have also started having a lot of people inquire about heaters. We carry heaters of 3 different varieties. Gas, Electric Pumps and Solar.

Gas heaters have the ability to heat pools rather quickly and can run on either propane or natural gas. These are tried and true units that have been used for years to help heat pools. We have gas heaters that will heat small aboveground pools and units that will heat pools as big as 40,000 gallons. That’s 250,000 BTU’s heating the pool! With that kind of power you can heat the pool in a matter of 24-30 hours. Fast, efficient and effective.

With Electric Heat Pumps we have a wide selection that can suit aboveground pools and ingrounds alike. The new ECO 500 heat pump was designed specifically to heat aboveground pools with great efficiency. From there the models get larger to suit inground pools all the way up to, yet again, 40,000 gallon pools. These heat pumps from Aqua Products are built with a 100% pure, commercial grade titanium heat exchanger and can pump up to 80 gallons per minute. It will take the heat pump several days to reach the desired temperature, but once at temperature and covered with a solar cover, these heaters retain heat better than any other heater in the business.

Lastly, we have Solar Heaters. Everyone has used a solar blanket in the past and we are still major advocates for their usage. Covers help to retain heat and give you the ability to extend your swimming season. But, we all know the struggle of hauling them on and off the pool. A solar heater is in no way a replacement for the solar blanket but it harnesses the power of the sun in the same fashion to help heat the water through conductivity. These solar panels, domes or arcs pass water through black tubing. By placing the solar heater in direct sunlight it traps the sun’s heat in the black coils and then conducts that heat to the water as it passes through. Unique and inexpensive, these units have provided countless customers with free heat provided by the sun.

Don’t let the colder weather get you down. The heat is coming and if not, we have some options to get you back in your pool. Keep the water clean and remember, if it stays this cold, we still sell spas!

I started here at Eastgate Pools back in 2004, tooling around in a ’93 Mazda 626. I loved that car until a series of unfortunate axle failures forced me to get something new. While I received no end of grief for my selection, I bought a 2003 Volkswagen Jetta with 19,000 miles on it. That was February of 2005. Nearly 170,000 miles later my Jetta has found a new home and I’ve moved on to a “new to me” 2009 Subaru Forester. I love the new car, and it is probably a bit more reliable, but that Jetta successfully delivered me to the home of many potential and eventual inground pool buyers. Now you’ll know to look for something a little different than that old silver Jetta if I’m stopping by.

There is no system that we can put you on to sanitize your pool that requires “no work”. No matter what sanitation program we set you up on, you MUST continue to balance your pH, alkalinity, stabilizer and calcium hardness. This goes for traditional salt systems, simple salt hybrid systems, FROG systems and chlorine tablets.

If you do not keep every other chemical in check, you’re going to run into problems all over the board. If pH is run low for extended periods of time, it becomes corrosive to any metal components on your pool, for instance your pump. Also, when your pH is out of balance, it allows for other items such as copper to fall out of solution and stain your liner. A high pH can cause cloudy water, and a drop in chlorine effectiveness.

If your alkalinity is not balanced, you will have a continuous struggle getting your pH and chlorine to balance out. A low calcium level in your pool can cause pits (holes) in your liner. Where a high calcium level can cause scaling on the liner.

Stabilizer prevents the sun from burning through your chlorine so quickly. If you let it get low, you will not maintain a high enough level of chlorine in your pool. So you will burn through chlorine very fast. On the flip side if stabilizer gets too high you can get into what’s known as chlorine lock. Basically, what chlorine lock is, is when you have chlorine in the water but it is “locked” to where it cannot do anything for the water sanitation.

The best thing to do is come in bi-weekly to get a professional water test done. This way you will have an exact amount and a regiment procedure to keep your pool balanced. Remember, if you work for your pools balance, the pool will work for you.

Balloons are getting blown, the weenie wagon is getting assembled and the sales are starting to add up as we prepare for our annual Anniversary sale. 33 years in a row we have brought out the big sales to start up your pool season and we invite you down for the 34th installment coming April 25th, 26th & 27th. We will have door prizes and, as always, we will have food but this year we have an added twist.

This year we will have the one and only G-Willie at the store doing cooking demonstrations on Saturday the 26th. He will be serving up his award winning competition ribs as well as samples of all his sauces. We brought in his sauces because they recently won 1st prize at the Scovie awards and we simply could not stop eating the sauce as it is delicious. Come on in and grab some grub next weekend or grab yourself a jar of his delicious sauce.

Please make us a stop on your route next weekend while you are out shopping and come celebrate 34 years of excellence. We are happy to give you some delicious barbecue and have a ton of great deals for you to take advantage of and who knows, maybe you’ll win a shopping spree.

This year has been pretty crazy for weather in Cincinnati and this spring looks no different! I was hoping we could get an early start with pool openings, but it doesn’t really look that way so far. Regardless of how fickle the weather may be, did you know we have some of the most qualified technicians in the Midwest? Why not find out what our service department is all about and schedule a pool opening today. We have an in-store coordinator to take your calls and schedule your opening. Give him a call at 513-528-8878.

We recently began working with Radiant Pools to bring in their gorgeous metric pool systems. They are built with a 2″ closed cell foam wall that insulates and gives incredible structural integrity. In these photos you can see the crew building one of the new metric free form pools. They begin by laying a template across the earth. They have already dug trenches to fill with concrete and add structural support at the curved points in the pool. As they build each wall, they connect them with splines that lock the pool into its shape. Once the pools walls are all connected the pool is formed into its true shape and they can begin to fill the concrete into the trenches. As everything gets set, the liner is laid out and then, eventually, tucked into bead and they begin to fill with water. Please come in and inquire if this pool seems suitable for you. These pools are versatile and can be built in rounds, ovals and the free form you see here. This is a 16′ X 28′ pool but there are plenty of size options to suit your needs and the best part is you can build these into the ground to create an in-the-ground system.

I realize that every year there are those who look at Labor Day as the end of the summer, and shut the pool down. Other years, this being one of them, there are an abundance of people reluctantly shutting their pools down. This is one of those years and the reason for shutting down early seems to be the same resounding answer: Leaves. Due to a dry August, and a projected dry early September the leaves are starting to fall in earnest, but you can keep swimming without all of the additional maintenance. There is a leaf cover that is affordable, easy to put on and remove, and allows you to keep the pool open without the extra upkeep. I know how hectic life gets this time of year, trust me, but I would rather see water than a winter cover. This also allows the kids to invite some of the new friends from school over for a swim party before the weather turns for the worse.

Here at Eastgate Pools & Spas we have been providing little tidbits of advice and information via our blog for a few years now and it isn’t always easy to say something that we haven’t already told you before. While thinking of something to write about it occurred to me that we might not feature our staff enough. So I’ll start with a little introduction of myself and I’ll do some little sitdowns with my fellow associates and introduce some of them in the future.

My name is Craig Weaver and I’ve been with Eastgate for almost a decade. I came to Eastgate with my primary experience coming from selling casual furniture, fireplace accessories, and grills. I’m primarily an Inground Pool Specialist now, but I still sell a little bit of something from all the other product lines we offer. I also manage the casual furniture department and help put together our orders for the year. If you ever have suggestions for products you might like to see just let me know.

Personally, I’m from Kentucky and recently moved just over a mile from the store with my relatively new wife, our two dogs, our two cats, and our two fish. I’m a movie and music buff as well as a big sports fan and I’m an avid follower of the UK basketball team. I know that alienates me a bit on this side of town, but that is what I grew up on. In fact, I lived in Lexington for about seven years. I have a degree in Organizational Leadership and a minor in Psychology. Not to worry, I won’t be trying to psychoanalyze any of our customers.

I don’t want to carry on too much, but thought I would offer a little insight into how I arrived at Eastgate Pools and just what my role here encompasses. So, next time you stop by you can feel free to give me some grief about my Wildcats, but warned…I’m a big fan. I look forward to the challenge! Have a great day.

As two budding scientific minds, one in chemical engineering and the other in neurobiology, Taylor and Kyle, two of the most strikingly handsome employees at Eastgate Pools and Spas, man the water test station a good majority of the time. Being such bright gents, they have developed a scientific method for testing the water of the exquisite customers of Eastgate Pools and Spas.

1. The first step for every water test is to ask the customer how they are doing and if there are any issues with their pools. This way, Taylor and Kyle can have a good idea of what to look for when the results are run.

2. The next step is to do background research into the issues that the customers express. They inquire as to what they see in the pool, what treatments the customers have tried already, and what has worked for them in the past. By doing this, the “Tall Twins” can further customize a treatment for any customer’s specific needs.

3. Based on the information provided by the customers, our water tester extraordinaires generate a hypothesis of what could possibly be plaguing the poor pool owners.

4. At this point, water testing can commence. The mighty water magicians used their water changing capsules to determine the exact amount of each specific chemical in the water. After crushing the capsules, our heroes insert the vials into the water reader of truth.

5. The water reader of truth reveals its findings to our suave, urbane, young gentlemen, and the results can be analyzed. From here, our two masterminds can resolve any chemical issues that may be pestering the pools of our beloved customers.

6. Finally, the results can be communicated with their clients and a step-by-step process can be personally created for each matter of concern.

Knowing that they have once again saved the day, Harry’s tenderfoot prodigies, their fame only continues to increase. They stay humble; realizing the ground beneath their feet is revered as hallowed. They stay focused, because they know it is their job and above all else, their responsibility, to help the great customers of Eastgate sleep comfortably at night, knowing their pools are under the watchful eye of Kyle and Taylor.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine called me to get some advice on building some outdoor wicker furniture that his Mother-in-law bought him and his wife as a housewarming gift. I didn’t want to give him a hard time for not consulting me first because this was a gift, so I just asked what the issue was. He told me that he and his brother spent about 4 hours building a loveseat, a couple of chairs, and a couple of tables. When they were down to two bolts remaining they found that one of the bolts on the chair simply would not thread in. When he called the customer service line for the box store where the furniture was purchased their solution was to have my friend disassemble the set, pack it back up, and ship it back while they shipped them a new set. Not only could they not simply replace the bad piece, or even just the chair, they also expected my friend to spend likely 6 more hours dealing with this “gift”. As it turns out I was able to rethread the insert so that the bolt would go in and the extra work was avoided.

I didn’t really want to relay this story just because of the bad experience that my friend had, rather I wanted to highlight the high level of service that we provide. When a customer has an issue with a brand new product you can rest assured that it will be resolved in a timely manner with as little inconvenience as possible. Perhaps more than anything it made me realize what a great service it is that we offer assembly and delivery for our furniture customers. I’m sure my friend would have gladly paid for that service if it meant he didn’t have to spend 4 hours of his day building furniture. Hopefully this example is one more reason why it pays to shop at Eastgate Pools.

We go through a lot of change as a new season approaches. Yesterday we posted some photos of our Technicians opening our Inground pool. Today they proceeded to open the rest of the pools and got some painting done indoors. In the following videos you will see a number of different things. It starts by taking a short walk through our store. You will see one of our Service Technician painting one of our walls and getting it ready to hang new materials. It will then take you through our pool lot. You will see that we have a lot going on out there. We are filling pools, hanging new liners, starting up pumps and filters and getting everything started for 2013. In the final shots you will see that even the Aquabot is already hard at work cleaning our Inground. Check out the video here Getting Started on a New Year

Many customer today are asking about salt systems. Their friends or family have one and love it, but most customers don’t fully understand how it will benefit them and have noticed the rather large up front cost.

Here are some benefits and reasons many customers are going to a salt system.

1. Saves time- The pool needs to have chlorine or it will go green. So, if a customer has a standard chlorinator they must go out to the chlorinator every 4 or 5 days and add chlorine tablets. Chlorinators have o rings which need to be lubricated or replaced often, the lid is usually tough to get off and the customer has to run to the store to buy more chlorine and find a place to store it. The only thing a salt system needs is a sufficient level of salt. Salt is a solid and once in the water, it stays (oceans stay salty). Generally a customer only needs to add salt to a pool on average twice a year, when opening and around July. The rest of the time the salt system is there running and without effort from the customer, sanitizing the pool.

2. Saves money- Buying a salt system is an investment. There is no denying it. If you do the math with the customer, you can show them it will pay off. The average customer spends about
$400 a year on chlorine tabs and shock. When you do the math it takes about 4 years to make back the money on the investment. Also, since the system takes care of the water, there are less water problems, which end up costing the greatest amount to fix. Take this into consideration with the average customer having a couple different water problems in a year, with each problem costing around $100 to fix. The system really pays for itself in the long run.

3. Ease of use- You can’t get any easier. The system tells you if you need salt and only have to push the arrow up or down to change the production levels. Beats wrestling with the chlorinator.

4. Peace of mind- I use an analogy when describing the maintenance of a pool. I compare it to mowing the lawn. When the loan needs mowed, if you wait an extra day or two to get to it, it’s ok. The grass will be a little taller but, no harm. Since the pool needs chlorine, if the work of sanitizing the pool is procrastinated and put off, the pool will go green. With a salt system, you have the peace of mind of knowing that the system is doing it’s job whether you get to it or not.

Another key advantage of a salt system that gives a consumer peace of mind and saves them money involves the fundamental difference between tablet chlorine and the raw form of chlorine that is manufactured by the salt system. First of all, chlorine is a gas. In tablet form they need to attach the chlorine gas to other solids. The problem with this is, the fillers that they need to use will shorten the life of the pool water and eventually make it necessary to drain the pool empty and refill. Since salt systems produce the pure form of chlorine, there is no residual left over and therefore, no solids building up in the pool making it necessary for the customer to waste all of their water.